Mobile Marketing is here! Really?!

Every year I seem to hear the same comments, ‘This year, mobile marketing will take off!’ But yet again it has only had a limited take up rate, yet could be the most powerful form of advertising. This begs the question, why is there such a problem with it? Having researched mobile marketing for many years, I realised early on that the largest issue leading to a rather limited take up was that only technical companies were attempting it. As a cutting edge technology a few years back, various companies attempted, and somewhat failed, to produce successful mobile marketing campaigns. Therefore, in the end, most companies who found a great deal of success with the medium, were using basic SMS, and ignoring the possibilities of wireless web technologies. The reason? Simple… content.

It is all very well developing the means to send WAP push messages to Joe Public, and being able to develop sites that are specific for mobiles, but if the content driven to the public is highly unimpressive, then what’s the point? That’s not to say that these uses of mobile wireless technology have not been successful in the past. Content sold via mobile phones, for mobile phones, has brought in vast sums of money over the last few years to the economy. In fact, this is one of the greatest uses of mobile web, as people can download music and games as and when they like, with the cost simply being added to their monthly statement. This however is not marketing in its strictest sense as the actual advertising for these services more often than not occurs on television or in the back of magazines. All this boils down to is a simple yet effective use of the internet.

So the problem comes back to content. Mobile marketing companies seem to all offer the same services, tiny web banners that are displayed at the top of mobile websites, static graphics with little thought or creativity behind them. Why does everyone insist on wasting the opportunities mobile marketing has to offer. The fact is that rich video advertisements have not only the quality of content to creatively portray concisely the desired message, but also the ability to really captivate an audience in a very personal and direct manner.

While not all phones can receive WAP push messages, 76% can and do browse the web on a regular basis. This allows them to receive video content on their mobile devices. The implications of being able to do this are massive. Imagine being able to send an advert directly to someone’s phone for them to watch. Unlike television, this allows people to be contacted at all times and even if they choose not to watch the video, they will know full well from whom they received it. This, to me, has to be the future of mobile technologies. Increasingly, large companies such as HSBC and Ann Summers are ‘trialling’ the use of mobile videos, though admittedly HSBC are using Bluetooth at the premises of their banks in London, but even these lack some of the best video content that is available.

Mobile marketing firms need to begin making the most out of rich content and forget that some people still cannot receive them. After all if three quarters of people can, and you can almost guarantee they will watch the video, then the number of people physically watching the movie will be much higher than if it was placed on a billboard or even television.

This has to be a great excuse for the development of cross mobile compatible files such as 3gp. It has certainly been frustrating for those within the industry, and I would like to think that mobile companies would like compatibility, so that it promotes competition further and improves the products for end users. Let’s see where this goes.